Bakugo Residence; That same day…
"Breaking: Ten Percent Spike in Crime Rates! Record Highs Since All Might's Golden Era!"
Thunk…!
He was going insane.
Thunk…!
Take a break from training, he said…! You need to make sure you heal, he said…!
Thunk…!
"Is Shiny Chariot responsible for this sudden rise in crime?!"
He would catch up on schoolwork, he'd thought. With all the time on his hands he'd even get ahead, he'd thought.
Thunk…!
He had been a complete idio—
"KATSUKI! I SWEAR TO GOD, YOU BETTER NOT BE THROWING PENCILS AT THE CEILING AGAIN…!"
Scowling, the blonde ignored the woman.
"Find out tonight in an Interview with Jack Jonah Johnson!"
Thunk…!
Another pencil stabbed into the drywall that made up the ceiling above his bed.
"KATSUKI…!"
Thunk…!
The sound of angry footfalls rapidly approached, prompting Katsuki to shut off the shitty news—seriously, blaming some random highschool girl for this crap was ridiculous—running in the background. Shortly thereafter his door slammed open and—
"How many times have I told you to stop doing this shit?" his mother growled, gesturing at his handiwork.
The pencils, all arranged such that they made a demonic grin from how they stuck out of the ceiling, smiled back at her.
"I know you're pissed that Mr. Yagi isn't letting you train until you're better—"
"I'm already better…" Katsuki grumbled under his breath, gesturing with his cast-free hands and carefully ignoring the way they shook if he tried to hold them still.
His mother's eye twitched, but she barreled past his blatant lie.
"—but for fuck's sake, you aren't going to brood in my house…!" she exclaimed. "There is a strict no angst policy here, and I swear I will force you to stay with Inko if you keep this up."
That got his attention.
"You wouldn't…" he growled.
"Try me," the woman growled back, eyes narrowed in an eerily identical manner. "I bet she'd be happy to console you and wrap you up in a blanket so you can whine your heart out while she bakes you cookies and—"
Katsuki recoiled as if he'd been slapped.
"HELL NO!" he shouted. "YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"
"THEN GET OFF YOUR ASS AND STOP ACTING LIKE A BITCH!"
"SCREW YOU, WOMAN! I'M NOT BEING A—"
"Honey…? Are you fighting with Katsuki again…?" a distant voice called.
Instantly, the blonde woman's face calmed, her expression shifting into one more suited to an angel than the hell-beast Katsuki knew she was at heart.
"No, sweetie! Don't worry!" she called back sweetly.
Katsuki shivered at how good the woman was at hiding her true nature.
"I know you two have tempers, honey, but—" the man went on.
"And we're not fighting, so you can just stay in your office while I finish speaking with our son and there'll be nothing to worry about, okay? He's just being a complete numbskull…!"
And there it was. The facade never could last for long.
"Honey…" the man somehow sighed audibly, despite the distance.
"What…? He needs it! I'm just trying to get him out of his funk! This isn't healthy!"
For a few moments… there was silence. And then…
"I know that—"
Oh screw you, dad…!
"—but is it really necessary to be so hard on him…?"
"Ab-so-lutely…!" his mother replied immediately.
…
…
…
"...Maybe I should come over there after all," the man stated after a moment.
"No! That's not necessary…! Don't worry! I've got it all under control…!"
Katsuki rolled his eyes.
"...Are you sure…?"
"Yes! Really! You're too soft on—Er, I mean… I've-got-it-handled!"
So saying, the woman slammed the door, placing her back up against it instantly before letting out a few muttered words.
"I'm a good mom…! I don't need his help for something this simple…!"
After a moment of silence, wherein the blonde teen simply stared at his mother with an amused smirk, the woman finally deigned to focus on him.
"So… Don't you have something better to do than screwing around the house and moping?" she went on, scowling at his amused expression but not bothering to address it. "Why haven't you gone out with your friends or something? What happened to that Kirishima brat?"
"Busy training with Mr. Yagi," he replied. "Since I'm not around he's got spike-teeth on some kinda special program to help him catch up to me, not that it'll ever happen."
The woman rolled her eyes blatantly at that.
"Well, what about that girl you were going goo-goo-eyed over recently? The one with the pink hair…? What's she doing?"
Ignoring my texts, that's what…!
Unfortunately, his lack of a verbal response seemed to tip his mother off that something was going on there.
"Oh…? Did my delinquent of a son get rejected…? Is that the real reason why you're moping…?" his mother went on with a smirk.
"No, that's not—"
"It is!" she guffawed. "Oh, this is priceless! Mr. Ego got rejected!"
Scowling, he turned away and resolved to ignore her. He had better things to do than getting riled up over something he knew was a lie. Important things. Like tossing a pencil at the—
"Come to think of it, you've never had a girlfriend… Ever…" the woman continued leadingly. "...Are you batting for the other team, son?"
His eyebrow twitched.
Badly.
"It's okay, really! I'll miss out on having grandkids, but I'm sure you could adopt," she chortled.
Oh, look! Now his hands were twitching! Wasn't that nice…?
"Hmm… Now that I think about it, you've always been a bit rough with Inko's son…"
No. No fucking way. She was not implying—
"Boys do pull on the pigtails of girls they like…" the woman trailed off with a smirk in his direction. "Should I give Inko a call to give her the good new—"
No, no, no, no, no—
"I'm not gay!" he declared, spitting out the first thing that occurred to him in a desperate defense.
"I have a girlfriend!"
Katsuki blinked.
His mother blinked.
Oh fuck, why did I say that…?
He really, really did not think that through… Fuck, he hadn't been thinking at all! He'd just wanted her to shut the fuck up and—
"Oho…?" the woman asked, a knowing smirk on her face. "Really…? When did you meet?"
"At… At…"
He was floundering. Fuck. This was bad. Really bad. He needed an answer now, or his bitch of a mother would hold this over his head for years! She already suspected the truth, and she would never let it go if he confirmed it!
Come on… I need something…
…And then he had an idea. An absolutely terrible idea… but it was an idea.
"At… the Festival…" he finished. "She helped me get the civilians out of the fire…"
Oh this was such a bad fucking idea.
"...Huh. That's actually pretty impressive, Katsuki," his mother said… in a shockingly genuine manner.
Alarm bells rang in his mind at the sight of her expression. She looked… intrigued… and she wasn't taking shots at him, either.
Something was going really fucking wrong…
…or really fucking right.
"Making a good impression under circumstances like… that… couldn't have been easy," she stated.
"Ill-mannered…! Violent…! Horrible—!"
"I… guess I inherited a bit of dad's charm…?" Katsuki asked more than answered, distinctly uncomfortable with how reasonable his mother was being.
The woman giggled at that.
The younger blonde shivered in response, terrified at his mother making such an unnatural sound. She laughed, guffawed, occasionally even chuckled… But Bakugo Mitsuki did not fucking giggle like a schoolgirl.
"He really is a charmer…" she mumbled to herself.
Katsuki had never vomited mentally until now… What a new experience…!
"So, what's she like…?" the woman said, finally moving on from… whatever the hell that was.
Katsuki thought about the question for a moment.
She's a complete bitch with a stick up her ass, hates my guts, and thinks I need fucking manner lessons…
"Well… she's… pretty professional, doesn't really take any shit, and isn't… completely useless…?" he replied, twisting the truth just a bit so as to sell the lie.
His mother stared at him blankly, eyes slowly widen—
Why the fuck is she looking at me like that…?
"Oh my god…" the woman gasped. "My baby's in love…!"
What.
"That's the most I've ever heard you compliment someone…!" she went on, an actual fucking smile spread across her face.
What the fuck is happenening?
"Do you have a photo…?!" she carried on excitedly.
"Uh…"
No, of course he didn't have a photo of the crazy bitch that had forced her number in his phone and fucked off to whatever pit of hell had spawned her!
"No…?"
Bakugo Mitsuki frowned. It was a special frown. A unique frown. One he'd never seen before and that made him want to shrivel up into a ball for disappointing her. What the hell kind of power had she suddenly gained…?! Had she suddenly developed a new quirk or some shit?!
"You are going to fix that," she declared, no, ordered.
He found himself nodding in agreement before he could even think to deny her.
'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!' he shrieked mentally.
Outwardly, however…
"Meh, fine. I can do that next time I see her."
I AM NEVER GOING TO SEE HER! FUCK THAT!
"And when is that…?" his mother clarified.
FUCK!
"Uh… We don't have anything specific planned right now…"
"Really? Then you should bring her over for dinner…!" his mother suggested excitedly. "That'd be better than a photo anyway! I need to meet the girl that actually caught your eye!"
NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO—!
"Oh! Wait! I forgot…!" he interjected in a panic. "We were actually going to do some studying together! She's applying to U.A. too, so it just made sense."
Oh god, I'm actually going to the fucking manner lessons… At least she wants me to kick her ass a few times as payment…?
"Oh, that works too, I suppose. Maybe she can come over some other time…"
How about fucking never?!
"R-right…! I'll let her know you offered…"
"Great…!" the woman laughed, clapping her hands together before rubbing them excitedly. "I've got the perfect thing in mind for… Huh, I almost forgot."
Shit, shit, shit, shit…! What now?!
"Why were you laying around like a wuss if you've got a girlfriend to go… have fun with…?"
She waggled her eyebrows at him suggestively for that part… and Katsuki had to restrain himself from smashing his head against the wall at the notion his mother was implying he should do that with his fake girlfriend.
"I…" he trailed off.
Wincing internally, he pushed on with the only excuse he could think of that made any fucking sense.
"She's been busy with personal stuff lately, so…"
Screw slamming his head against a wall, he needed to wash his brain in bleach.
"Aww…! That's adorable!" his mother cooed. "Who knew you had it in you to be lovesick?"
Clenching his jaw tightly he barely managed to restrain the curses he wanted to hurl at the woman for this… humiliation.
…But he couldn't back out now. That would mean admitting he'd been lying this whole time just to shut his mother up and prove her wrong… and that would be infinitely worse than the current situation.
It also didn't help how… genuinely excited she seemed to be, either. Taking that away…
…He couldn't do it.
WHY COULDN'T HE DO IT?! AHHHHH—!
"So what's her name? Is she pretty…? What am I saying, of course she's pretty," the woman rambled.
A bone-deep exhaustion began to settle in as he realized this… this inquisition… wasn't going to stop anytime soon. Why had he done this to himself…? WHY?!
"Her name is Yaoyorozu Momo…" he began, barely restraining the urge to leap out the window and damn the consequences. "...and yeah, she is kinda pretty I guess."
I am so fucked…
I'm so screwed…
Izuku let out a sigh as she dropped onto her bed, not even bothering to remove her mask as she sank into the cushioned surface. The recent battle, on top of her getaway, had drained her quite heavily. There was probably only a few minutes left before the transformation ended, but until then she was going to try and relax…
'I'm sure you'll find a job eventually, Izuku-san…!' Hinata interjected, trying to cheer up the transformed-boy.
At this rate, I'll have cleared Musutafu out of all its villains before that happens…
Seriously…! Once was unfortunate but not unreasonable given the rising crime rates… twice was just bad luck, but three times…?! It was just ridiculous at this point.
'...You'll find a way! I know you will!' Hinata went on. 'You've gotten so much better at fighting because you keep trying so hard. It's the same principle! Just keep trying and you'll get it eventually!'
Despite herself, Izuku felt a grin come to her face.
It was true that she was getting better… A lot better, even! These recent villains were probably somewhere between E and D ranks, and they only took a little bit of effort! When compared to her first fight, all the way when she'd found the watch…
Wow. I really have made a lot of progress, haven't—
Knock, knock, knock!
Izuku froze.
Slowly, she turned to look in the direction the sound had come from… Her window. Was she just imagining things…? There couldn't be anyone out there—
Knock, knock, knock!
Is… Is it Hawks…? Did he come back…?
Knock, knock, knock!
Panicking at the thought of him showing up—and worse, being kept waiting—she rushed over to the window and flung it open—
"Hi!" The blonde girl from before greeted her cheerily, waving from her position on the fire escape.
Izuku's brain stalled.
"W-what're you doing out he—How did you find me…?!"
The girl's expression dimmed a bit at that, taking on a look of nervousness for a long, uncomfortable moment… and then she began to speak… If you could call what followed speaking.
"Well-after-you-left-I-realized-I-couldn't-let-the-chance-to-work-with-real-heroes-go-and-I-remembered-that-I-have-a-GPS-tracker-in-all-of-my-projects-in-case-I-lose-them-and…"
The… unintelligible mess of words washed over the dark-haired teen, overwhelming her not so much with information, but with sheer rapidity as she just. kept. Going…!
However… a far more serious problem caught her focus.
Her body was tingling.
No, no, no…! Not right now!
Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to be done…
'Sorry, Izuku-san…! Good luck with—'
…And so, a flash of red filled the room… and Izuku was back to normal.
"...still-had-time-before-my-escort-met-me-I-was-really-hoping-that—Wait…!" the girl trailed off in surprise. "You're the boy I talked to earlier…!"
…I… I really need to figure out some way to avoid this happening.
"Y-yeah… That's me…!" the now green-haired boy chuckled awkwardly.
There really wasn't a point in denying it now.
"You're Oversight…?!" the girl went on. "That's…"
Izuku slumped a little, already anticipating the blow to his self-esteem. He knew he wasn't all that impressive to look at… the botched job interviews prior to the girls' help had reinforced that well enough…
"...amazing!" she declared, catching him off guard. "Oh, your quirk is so much more interesting than I first assumed…! It's not just a transformation quirk, it's got other abilities as well!"
Instantly, her notebook was out, pen in hand as she started scribbling down information. Her tongue was even sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she did it… It was pretty cute, actually—
Gah! Focus, Izuku!
"Grants above-normal physical prowess… Likely gains ocular quirk while transformed… Possible but unlikely that subject has multiple transformations, given inherent instability… unless some other constraint balances out the—" the girl mumbled, before cutting herself off as her eyes widened.
Izuku knew that look. It was one he'd seen on himself in the past, even. It was the kind of expression he had whenever he'd had an epiphany about a project… or about someone's quirk…
"Are you the other vigilantes too…?!" she exclaimed in excitement. "It would be unprecedented to have a quirk that varied, but it just fits!"
"Uh…"
"Oh my god, you are!" the girl went on, making a ridiculous assumption that she had zero evidence for…
…and that was unfortunately quite correct.
"It makes so much sense! They all have a shared hourglass motif, but none of them have ever been seen at the same time! If they were a team, why wouldn't they have debuted together? But this explains it…!"
Izuku really didn't like how quickly she'd come to this conclusion…
"...This… This means that you're Shiny Chariot…!" she gasped.
Why… Why was she looking at him like that…?
"I love you…!"
The teen's heart stopped as he tried to process the fact a pretty girl had just said that to him… and then promptly started beating a million beats a second when she leaned over the windowsill and hugged him…!
"You're exactly the kind of hero I've always wanted to work with…!" the girl exclaimed as she held him tightly.
"Mmrph…!"
It was at that moment that the girl realized that, between the height difference and the fact that the fire escape she was standing on was a bit higher than the floor of his room, she was forcing his head into her chest.
"Eep…!" the blonde, well, eeped.
Releasing him and stepping backwards, she covered her now red face in mortification.
"S-sorry…!" she exclaimed. "I-I just got… excited…!"
Refusing to even look in the girl's direction, utterly red-faced himself, Izuku focused on one specific thought.
Rias and Medaka can never know…!
"I-It's fine…!" he stuttered. "D-don't worry about it…! I-It was kinda nice, anyway—"
The two teens both just… stood there, after that declaration, eyes equally wide even though they couldn't see each other.
I… I meant the hug! THE HUG!
"Well-anyway-it-was-nice-meeting-you-bye—" he rattled off before he reached to shut the window—
"Wait…!" the girl interrupted, shoving the upper half of her body through the aperture before he could close it. "Please! Hear me out…!"
Oh. Right. She was here for a reason, wasn't she?
"I… I really don't think that's a good idea…" Izuku trailed off.
"Please…! I swear, I just want to help…!" the girl pleaded.
The boy stared past the glint of her glasses, trying to ascertain the blonde's sincerity…
…I…
There was a certainty present there, staring back in defiance from her blue orbs. More than that, there was desperation, too… The look of someone faced with a once in a lifetime chance they couldn't afford to miss… but what kind of chance did she see here…? What did she see that would demand such dedication?
And why… why did she look like she needed saving…?
"Please…!" the girl repeated, meeting his gaze without hesitation.
Was… Was this how I looked when I asked… That Man… if I could be a hero…?
Letting out a shaky breath, Izuku lifted the window up again and stepped back.
"F-fine…! Just… Make it quick!" he declared, refusing to look her in the eyes.
It hurt to see the raw, familiar, hope present there.
I hope I don't regret this…
The way the girl beamed at him confirmed he'd made the right choice, even if it was for that reason alone. It was always a good thing when people smiled.
"Thank you…!" she exclaimed, slipping through the window and entering his room.
A few moments were spent glancing around…
"Alright, Melissa… Take it slow…" she mumbled under her breath.
…before the blonde focused on Izuku again.
"My name is Melissa Shield," the girl began, confidence dripping from every word.
Weirdly, her name sounded familiar even though he knew he'd never met her before today.
"I'm a student studying to be a Support Technician… and I know that you're a vigilante, but…" she went on.
"...I want to make your Hero Equipment."
Melissa waited with baited breath, the silence practically killing her as she stood there, awaiting a response.
'What am I doing…?!' part of her wondered.
Really, this was probably the worst idea she'd ever had, but…
"Honestly, I think you were the real hero today… Well, my hero, at least."
Every time she thought about backing out, those words would repeat in her head and the giddy feeling would return. She was being emotional, unreasonable, illogical, whatever you wanted to call it, but there were some decisions in life that couldn't be made reasonably… And every fiber of her being told her she'd regret not taking this chance.
"I… You want to… Why…?" the boy asked, completely bewildered. "You… You do know I'm a vigi—no, you just said that—so why…? You have to know this is a bad idea."
She nodded.
"I do."
That threw him for a loop.
"But… You could get in so much trouble for doing this…! I could get in so much trouble for doing this…!" he countered. "What could possibly make this worth it for you…? There's no reason to do this…! No, it's best if you just walk away before you get too involved and—"
"Why are you doing this?" Melissa cut in, turning the question back at him.
"That's not important," the green-haired boy countered, moving past her point with ease. "It's not some spectacular dream or a tragic backstory, so there's no reason for you to get involved. It's safer for you that way!"
"So it's for the attention…?" the girl asked sharply, disappointment and worry creeping into her mind.
This wasn't what she expected from a hero she'd compared to her Uncle Might…
"What?! No…! I never wanted the attention! I was just… in the right place at the wrong time," he said hurriedly. "All I want is… to make people smile."
Melissa, fittingly, felt a smile come to her face at that statement.
"Good," she said, relieved. "I watched Chariot's debut many times and after hearing what you said to them…"
"Just pick yourself up and smile…! It's the feelings in your heart that work the true magic…!" the memory echoed.
"…I never would have forgiven you if you said something like that and you weren't the real deal."
"W-what…? Real deal…? I'm just a vigilante…!" the teen denied, a blush coloring his cheeks at that declaration. "A-and you still haven't said why you want to do this…!"
"Well, if you want to make people smile, then I want to make you smile…!"
The boy's jaw hung open a little bit at that… and then Melissa realized how that sounded.
"Er… I… I didn't mean it like—Ahem…!" she cleared her throat quickly, refusing to meet his eyes. "Anyway… To answer your question…"
Trailing off, she took another calming breath and turned back to face him.
"Ever since I was little, I've wanted to be a hero," she stated seriously. "But… there was a problem."
"I'm quirkless…"
The boy's expression had frozen in place, awkward silence filling the room yet again, and it was all the blonde could do to fill the space with an out-of-place laugh.
"I-I know it's not that big of a deal, plenty of kids have to give up on their dreams once they face the real world and—"
"No…" the boy breathed, his words carrying such a weight and seriousness to them that it startled her. "Never laugh at your dream. Don't look down on it or yourself just because it's hard, or others say it's impossible."
Now it was Melissa's turn for her mouth to hang open.
"My own dream is childish. I know that," he went on. "'Making people smile…?' I know that's a kids fantasy at best, but… so what? I've tripped and I've stumbled, even falling flat on my face at times, but I'm getting there. I'm taking a stupid idea and making it a reality, and if I can do it…"
He paused, closing his eyes for a solemn moment.
"...So can you."
…
…
…
'…Wow.' the girl mentally whispered in awe.
It was hard to follow up something like that with anything, the sheer weight of the words holding her tongue in check. No one had ever told her something like that before. Sure, her father had supported her, and Uncle Might was always ready to offer a word of praise when he was around, but…
…This was different.
"T-thank you…" the girl stuttered in reply. "...B-but that's not my dream anymore."
And hearing it only made her want to work with him even more.
"...I gave up on being a hero years ago."
The boy seemed ready to comment on that, too, so Melissa hurried on before he could drop another impactful speech and tie her tongue into knots again with the charisma she really should have expected from the person behind Shiny Chariot.
"Being a normal hero…!" she corrected. "I gave up on being the one people look at during a crisis, of fighting off the bad guys and being the one to save the day… But not on being a hero at all."
I'll never give up on that.
"Instead, I want to be the one who helps the heroes. The one that makes it possible for them to do all the things that they do… because while they're busy saving others, who's saving them?" she asked rhetorically. "I want to prove that, even without a quirk, there's still a way to be a hero…"
The green-haired teen's eyes widened at that, and then he looked away with a… why did he look ashamed…?
"I never thought of it like that…" he mumbled under his breath.
"So that's why I want to work with you," Melissa barreled on, refusing to give up her momentum. "You're going to be the best of the next generation of heroes—"
He froze up at that, mouth opening to deny the statement humbly. She knew better, though. After seeing his recent actions in the field, after what he'd said to her…? She was certain that he could do it. He had the talent, the drive, and the special spark that made people like her Uncle who they were.
…And what better place for David Shield's daughter than at the side of the next Number One?
"—but even you still need help. In fact, particularly because you're a vigilante—"
'For now,' she mentally added.
She was just as certain he'd find a way to go pro eventually. It's what happened to a lot of the old vigilantes when they cracked down on it in her Uncle's era, after all… though laws were a lot less forgiving now…
"—you'll need all the help you can get."
"I-I see…" he trailed off. "Are… Are you sure…?"
"Absolutely…!" she nodded firmly.
The teen faded into silence, fiddling with his watch nervously as he visibly mulled over his options.
"You… you won't tell anyone? No one at all? Not your parents, not your friends, no one…?" he clarified.
"No one," Melissa parroted as excitement began to flood her veins.
Is he…?
"There's no way you're going to let this rest if I say no, are you…?" he confirmed.
"Nope…!" she declared cheerfully.
The boy let out an exasperated sigh. The kind of sigh her father or uncle made when they decided to finally give in to one of her requests after weeks of badgering. Just like them, he seemed to be smiling in spite of what he was about to allow.
He is…!
"Then… I guess…" he trailed off.
"I guess that makes us partners…"
Omake:
Interview With Chariot
"So, you're probably wondering why the format's changed, aren't you!" The Host declared with a dazzling grin, facing the fourth wall head on. "Well, after budget cuts from that asshole we call an author—really, he should spend more time on this project—and a shift in schedule, we aren't actually a Friday Show anymore! So… We can't really call ourselves 'Fridays with the Waifus,' can we?"
The Host made his way across an empty void, a stage popping into existence below him as he spoke into an indistinct microphone.
"Now, we could just shift the name to reflect the new upload schedule, but what happens when the idiot screws up again and uploads on the wrong day of the week…? Chaos, that's what! As a self-respecting figment of his imagination—a rarity, I assure you—I can't condone such lacking professionalism! So, now we're another brand of Omake segment called 'Interviews With the Cast!'"
Having made this declaration, the Host proceeded to spin on his heel, turning to face the central part of the stage behind him.
"Anyway, with that out of the way, let's greet today's guest, shall we?"
With a snap of his fingers… Everything changed.
Replacing the stage and empty void was a sprawling forest, full of eerie grey trees that twisted and turned around each other in a network of unfriendly branches. A multitude of monstrous plants took up residence in sporadic clearing throughout the forest, with creatures of folktale and myth alike hiding in the shadows created by the never-ending gray canopy. A dull purple mist seeped through the foliage, the blue sky above breaking through the treeline in small oases of sunlight.
There was only one thing that broke up the gloomy atmosphere of the forest: a massive tree that spiked up and through the canopy, continuing on so high up that it more resembled a mountain than any kind of plant-life. Unlike the other trees around it, the gargantuan thing seemed healthy and full of life. Where the rest of the forest seemed ready to lash out at any that passed through it with rotted and barren limbs, this tree seemed more likely to extend its multitude of leaf-filled branches out in a welcoming embrace.
Situated at the base of the tree was a small whimsical hut—hanging off the side of the bark through some feat of illogic that defied physics for fun and laughed at architects for being 'too serious.' It was there that today's 'guest' was to be found.
"Isn't it more fun to visit them instead of having them come to us…?" The host laughed.
After a short commercial break—
Please check out 'Pinwheels of Green' if you have any interest in Bleach and Naruto. I swear I'll update it eventually!
—we find ourselves knocking on the door.
"...Zzzzzz… Mimimimi… Zzzzz…." echoed from within the hut.
"I guess we'll just have to let ourselves in, won't we…?"
Putting his hand on the door, a soft 'click' echoed from the lock before he pushed the door inward. The inside of the hut was just as whimsical, with magical texts and books stacked so high that they were likely to brain anyone foolish enough to knock them over, scattered scrolls with half-thought magic show plans strewn about the floor, and rune-like doodles of all kinds taking up residence along the walls. Resting in the corner was a bird-post, upon which Polaris was currently preening himself.
The ceiling itself was, quite literally, the night sky. The place where the walls met the roof seemed… indistinct… giving way to a hazy darkness filled with the gentle bursts of starlight. Glowing lines faded in and out of existence between them, drawing all the important constellations one by one in sequence before repeating the process yet again. At the center of the magical roof hung… a crescent moon.
…A crescent moon that's inner curve was covered by a shimmering blanket and cloud-shaped pillows. Nestled beneath the covers was a red-haired girl, a cartoonish bubble inflating and deflating from her nose as she breathed peacefully in her sleep while a classic nightcap drooped off her head—a childish yellow star resting at its point instead of a fluffy ball. One of her arms was hanging out of her unusual bed, the Shiny Rod dangling loosely from its fingers.
"A-hem…!"
The girl didn't even stir.
"A-hem…!"
Nothing.
"Chariot Du Nord, if you are not up and ready in five minutes you're going to miss your final exam…!"
The girl shot up, scrambling out of bed and diving over the side—only for her foot to catch within her covers and get tangled up, leading to her dangling upside down, struggling to unlatch her foot while it supported all of her weight.
"I'm up, I'm up!" she exclaimed, still clawing at her trapped limb as she started looking around for something—her uniform, in all likelihood.
"...Wait a minute…" she blinked. "I graduated a while ago…"
Then she looked around herself again.
"Ohhhhh… Right! Not in Kansas anymore! Almost forgot!" she laughed. "So, uh… Who're you?"
"I'm the one asking the questions here, missy!" The host replied, though his voice lacked any kind of acerbic undertones. "I'm interviewing you, not the other-way around!"
"Does this mean I'm finally making my big break?! Am I gonna be in the papers?! I just knew that being stubborn enough would make my shows finally catch—No, wait, I'm in this weird watch thing… Drat," the girl replied, bouncing between emotions quite quickly. "Anyway, what can I—"
Her foot chose that moment to finally come loose.
Slam…!
"Owie…!" the girl groaned, rubbing her head as she slowly sat upright. "Stupid floor…!"
Ignoring her antics, the Host began speaking.
"Let's get started, then!" He exclaimed. "First question: 'Have you met the others yet?'"
The girl tilted her head to the side, causing her nightcap to flop to the other side of her head.
"You mean Ryoko and the girls…?" she confirmed. "Yeah! I've met them! We bump into each other when we watch Izuku from the center room! Ryoko and I are trying to set up a proper club so we can all get to know each other, but… Some of the girls are kinda hard to convince."
"Oh? Really? Please, elaborate."
"Well…" Chariot trailed off. "Rias spends all her time giggling at those pervy comics of hers, Baiken just ignores us and drinks whenever we visit to invite her, and 2B doesn't see the point in—"
The girl crossed her arms in front of her, squinting her eyes disdainfully as she looked down her nose.
"—unnecessary, time-wasting, activities…" the redhead stated. Her demeanor shifted back to her cheery normal immediately afterwards, however. "Hinata and Medaka are on board though, so that's neat!"
"I see, I see…" the Host nodded sagely. "Thank you for explaining. Now, time for question two: 'How do you feel about Izuku being a kindred spirit when it comes to making people smile?'"
Chariot's eyes lit up, pupils suddenly resembling the star-like pattern on Polaris' chest as she spoke excitedly.
"It's great! I've never met anyone that just… gets it! Everyone always laughed at me, or thought I was being ridiculous, even if they didn't always say it to my face. They'd always tell me to use my talents for more 'important' things, as if making people happy isn't the most important thing in the world!"
Collapsing her hand in front of her eagerly, the Shiny Rod still firmly within her grip, she went on.
"I wish I'd met him back home! He would have been an awesome assistant!" The girl declared. "I would have made him a magic sword and a cape that's almost as cool as mine and we could have been a wandering duo! It would have been so cool!"
Chuckling good naturedly, the Host interjected.
"Good to hear you get along so well!" he laughed. "Now, I don't want to cut off your excitement early, but we're running low on time and there's just one question left…"
"Okay! Go ahead!" Chariot exclaimed eagerly.
"This one comes from the fact that you're not quite the same age as the audience would normally expect—"
"What does that mean…? Audience…? What audience…?" The girl tried to interrupt, but the man kept going.
"—So it's left some viewers wondering… 'What are your measurements?'"
The girl's face lit up like a Christmas tree, the Shiny Rod coming up a moment later.
"Perverts…!" she shouted as her staff began to glow brightly.
"Ah, pardon me, I do believe it's time for me to be going…!"
"Shiny…! AR—!"
With a snap of his fingers, the Host was back on stage, the forest and girl long gone.
"Well, folks, I believe that's the best answer you're going to get for that one! I hope you all look forward to the next interview, though I wouldn't expect one for a while, yet… We've got a ways to go until we have someone new to visit!"
Bowing at the waist, the man grins openly at the camera.
"Until next time!"
AN:
No Detail Diatribe today, just my maddened ramblings about characterization and plot direction! Also,
There's nothing important to announce today, so skip this section if you don't care about my plot-rants.
This was a very character-focused chapter, and quite a big development has happened because of it! By that, I of course mean Bakugo has a girlfriend—
Ow, ow, stop throwing things at me! I was kiddi—Ow!
All jokes aside, Melissa's team up with Izuku is quite the narrative milestone. I've had it planned for a while, actually, which makes it all the more frustrating that I didn't already have a well-detailed plan in mind for addressing what a reviewer pointed out to me just recently:
She's kind of too important to let roam around without any kind of guard.
Her father is an internationally recognized figure that runs a massively important part of the Support Industry, after all.. So it doesn't make sense for her to be out and about on her own. Now that this has been pointed out to me—and boy is it obvious in retrospect—I've taken some steps to address that in future chapters.
Now, as for Izuku… He really is quite the bleeding heart, isn't he? Letting Melissa join the team really is not something he should be doing. He barely knows her, and has no idea if she's trustworthy in the slightest, but he let one little sob-story and his 'saving people thing' make his decision-making for him.
At least he's not Mineta, though… He would be making far worse decisions.
God, I don't want to imagine how quickly the world would end if Mineta got his hands on the Waifutrix. Well, that, or he'd get himself killed by the waifus, who would somehow claw their way out of the watch to throttle him for his behavior.
Anyway, the last thing to address is Bakugo… And hoo boy, it's almost as if his lifelong obsession with being the best has led to him having communication problems, among many other things, and that's bitten him in the ass… Again. Maybe he'll start to notice the pattern…?
…Nah, no way. That would mean character development, and we don't do that here!
I kid, but still, writing Bakugo putting his foot in his mouth never gets old.
All that is to say, I hope you've all had a good time! I know I did! See you next chapter!
Edit:
So, you know how, sometimes, you review a composition... like an essay, or a report... and you review the sucker like 15 friggin' times... but you still somehow end up missing a long-running major mistake? Well, that's what happened with the Bakugo scene. I'm so used to mentally considering the explosive blonde's name to be 'Bakugo' that I typed it by default in that scene and didn't catch it in all of my proof-reading.
Anyway, thanks for those who pointed it out. I've fixed the issue now.